Desperate Housewives - Epiphany

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Tonight Desperate Housewives gave us an interesting look at how a serial killer may potentially be born. Let's dive right in, shall we?

First reaction on meeting the mother: this is the source of all this kid's problems. (I wasn't entirely right, but it's a large part of it). I mean, she is pretty horrible to him from the time he is about 4 (and possibly even since he was born). She leaves him home alone to go to a bar, tells him he ruined her life, ignores him for her boyfriend, laughs at his attempts to woo Danielle, makes him feel inferior, and eventually develops a drinking problem. It doesn't get more screwed up than that. Add to that a little psychology (which is what I'm studying) and we can start talking about parenting styles of attachment and how that leads to problems forming relationships with others as well (especially romantic relationships). So it is no wonder the kid has some issues, but does that excuse his actions? Let's take a look at the ladies of Wisteria Lane and the Eddie they got to know before making that call.

Gabrielle - Eddie is still pretty young when Gabi meets him for the first time, but he already shows signs of being a troubled kid. I have to say that Gabi is one housewife that consistently surprises me. She may have selfish motives at times, but she genuinely seemed to be concerned about Eddie and how lonely he was. Eddie does not appreciate her suggestion that he make friends his own age, however, and makes no effort to hide this from her.

Bree - Eddie is closer to the age we see him now, and he is having your typical girl troubles. Bree hires him to do work around the house and they end up discussing some of his issues. He says girls never notice him and Bree suggests maybe they are waiting for him to notice them. She also suggests he try wooing the girl he is interested in, little knowing that said female is her daughter, Danielle. When she realizes this (and that Danielle is not interested) she goes to Eddie's mother to try to get help in letting him down gently. The mother definitely does not let him down gently though. She is overly harsh to him and causes him much distress. "I want someone to love me," Eddie proclaims. His mother simply laughs. (This is when I really started getting my idea about attachment style. His mother drives his need to be loved by treating him so badly). It is here we see a pattern develop of everyone laughing at Eddie's attempts to find love. This is what sets off his violent streak, which we see in the alley with the prostitute.

Susan - She first gets to know Eddie as "the boy who sold her coffee," but she eventually also notices his artistic talents and compliments him about it. She says he has potential and offers to help him develop it. Eddie accepts, and eventually exceeds what she can teach him. She offers to send him to an art institute seminar, but he is worried that his mom won't allow it. Susan tells him, "when you love something that much you can't just let it go." This advice may have been taken the wrong way and fueled his extreme behavior but it is unclear. We see Eddie fall for Susan though, and he even asks her to marry him instead of Mike. (It is probably due to her generosity that he feels so strongly towards her). She laughs at his proposal, taking it as a joke. The pattern continues. He lashes out again, but hurts Julie instead. I found his comments in the hospital room about the "weak, insignificant, piece of garbage" and "should kill himself" interesting. I wondered if that was how he felt about himself, or if he was just covering in front of Susan. I think the former is the more likely scenario.

Lynette - She and her family first notice a problem during a Friday night game of Charades. Eddie's mother interrupts and shows them all how messed up she is.

Switching over to Eddie's house, we see how jealous he is of "normal" families. We also see Mom find the scrapbook with the newspaper clippings of all the crimes her son has committed. She confronts him and he admits it. "I didn't raise you to be like this," she yells. Eddie's reply: "Didn't you?"

This is the real question. Is it the mother's fault for mistreating him? Or is it the neighbor's fault for knowing something is up and not doing anything about it, as Lynette suggests? While the neighbors could have helped, they are not entirely to blame. As Mary Alice points out in the end: monsters come from other monsters.

As always seems to be the case, the ending was the best part. Mom tells Eddie, "the worst mistake I ever had in my life was having you." "No," I reply to the television, which clearly can hear everything I tell it. "It was saying something like that to your crazy son." This as he proceeds to kill her in another of his uncontrollable rages. (Note: if he really can't control himself then legally he should go to a mental facility, not jail. But that is a debate for another night.)

Finally, Eddie gets his chance at a normal family when Lynette offers to let him live with her family. She sees Eddie's mom lying on the floor, but assumes she is passed out drunk. She has no idea she has just invited a killer to live in her house. (It shouldn't take long to figure out though, seeing as how there are only, what, three weeks left?)

Whew, that was a lot to recap. Now that we've gone over everything, got something you'd like to share? Do you think Eddie is in control of his actions? And is the mother to blame for how he turned out, or is part of it still him? I'd love to hear what others have to say.